Plot Synopsis

Since the sudden death of her husband ten months earlier, Ann Arbor freelance writer Karin Niemi has felt half-dead herself. Nothing interests her. Not work. Not friends. Not church. Not the mystery novels that fill her bookshelves. Not even the political maelstrom surrounding the recent and highly suspect presidential election.

Frustrated, depressed and more than a little desperate, Karin—against her better judgment and under pressure from her metaphysically-inclined best friend, Bixie— schedules a session with Bixie’s mentor and renowned psychic Dana Lewis. But as Karin is among the first to discover, Dana has been murdered. Preliminary evidence points to someone close to home, most likely the victim’s daughter.

Not satisfied with the efforts of the Ann Arbor Police, Bixie and a somewhat less-than-enthusiastic Karin launch their own investigation to find the killer. They’re joined by Karin’s friend and neighbor, Paul, an eccentric fixture on the Ann Arbor social scene. Gradually, Karin finds herself taking the lead in this bizarre, tangled and fascinating pursuit.

A few days later, when University of Michigan computer science student Chaz Anderson dies under mysterious circumstances, Karin becomes convinced that the two deaths are linked. New clues lead her into the halls of academe, the surprisingly messy lives of Ann Arbor's social and political elite, and the esoteric realm of computer hackers, black-box voting and election fraud. They also place her on a collision course with Bixie’s very married and dangerously attractive brother, one of several Ann Arbor police officers assigned to the recent murder cases.

Is it possible, as Karin suspects, that Chaz Anderson hacked the vote? Did he act alone? And did Dana Lewis die because she knew too much?

Karin soon realizes she must find the answers quickly, before the murderer votes her off the case. Forever.

For more information about Mantra for Murder
Phone: 734/761-8440 • Email: lindafitz@mantraformurder.com